Friday Kanopy Movie Pick: Golden Gate Girls

You can watch movies via Kanopy at any time. To watch Golden Gate Girls now, click here, then sign into your account.

If you do not have a Kanopy account, you can create one. Click here for instructions.

In honor of Asian Pacific Heritage Month, our Friday Kanopy movie pick features Golden Gate Girls, a documentary about Esther Eng, the first woman to direct Chinese-language films in America.

Esther Eng was born in San Francisco on September 24, 1914. At the age of 19, Eng became a producer in her father’s film production company. After the success of the film National Heroine (1937), which Eng directed in Hong Kong, she decided to remain there to direct her next two films: Ten Thousand Lovers & Storm of Envy.

In 1939, Eng returned to San Francisco to make four more films. She co-wrote and directed It’s a Women’s World, which featured an all-female cast showcasing thirty-six women in different professions. After the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949, many Cantonese opera and film actors had returned to China, leaving Eng with little talent to work with. In 1950, she stopped making films to pursue a career as a restaurateur. She went on to open five restaurants throughout Manhattan.

Esther Eng is considered a pioneer in Chinese-language film making. She broke gender, racial, and cultural boundaries, in a time when Hollywood was dominated by male directors and anti-Chinese sentiment was strong throughout the United States. When she died in January 1970, her obituary appeared in Variety and the New York Times, fondly remembering her as a hub of Chinese film culture in the U.S.

To learn more about Asian Pacific Heritage Month click here

How to use Kanopy

Kanopy is a streaming service that is free to use with your WPL card. Your account has 4 watch credits per month. If you do not use your credits, they do not roll over to the next month. You will see a "play credit tracker" at the top right of your library's Kanopy platform to alert you of how many play credits you have remaining for the month.

To use a play credit, you must press play on a video and have the video play for at least 5 seconds. Once a play credit is logged, you will have a full 3 days (72 hours) to watch the video as many times as you would like without using another play credit, even if a new month starts and your credits reset. Your Viewing History will show any video that is still available to view in your 3 day window. After the 3 day window has expired, another play credit will be used if you press play on the video again.

Kanopy is currently offering credit-free viewing for select films. If you watch any of the movies on this list, you will not be using your credits. Once you log into your account, click the “credit free viewing" link on the top.

Friday Kanopy Movie Pick: After Auschwitz

You can watch movies via Kanopy at any time. To watch After Auschwitz now, click here, then sign into your account.

If you do not have a Kanopy account, you can create one. Click here for instructions.

On May 8, 1945, the Allies of World War II formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany, which became known as Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day). In honor of the 75th anniversary of  V-E Day, our Friday Kanopy movie pick is the documentary After Auschwitz. This documentary chronicles the lives of six female Holocaust survivors who immigrate to Los Angeles to rebuild their lives after WWII. After being silenced for three decades, these women finally get a chance to tell their stories of the homeland they left behind and the difficulty of acclimating to American life.

V-E Day in America

New York’s Times Square was the site of the largest V-E Day celebration in the United States. The New York Times announced that over 15,000 police officers would be on duty “to ensure that celebrants are held within the bounds of sane and reasonable hilarity.” President Truman, however, did not encourage excessive celebration and reminded the country that many Americans had lost loved ones in the war. He was also focused on the war with Japan, stating “our victory is only half over.”

How to use Kanopy

Kanopy is a streaming service that is free to use with your WPL card. Your account has 4 watch credits per month. If you do not use your credits, they do not roll over to the next month. You will see a "play credit tracker" at the top right of your library's Kanopy platform to alert you of how many play credits you have remaining for the month.

To use a play credit, you must press play on a video and have the video play for at least 5 seconds. Once a play credit is logged, you will have a full 3 days (72 hours) to watch the video as many times as you would like without using another play credit, even if a new month starts and your credits reset. Your Viewing History will show any video that is still available to view in your 3 day window. After the 3 day window has expired, another play credit will be used if you press play on the video again.

Kanopy is currently offering credit-free viewing for select films. If you watch any of the movies on this list, you will not be using your credits. Once you log into your account, click the “credit free viewing" link on the top.

Friday Kanopy Movie Pick: Sound City

You can watch movies via Kanopy at any time. To watch Sound City now, click here, then sign into your account.

If you do not have a Kanopy account, you can create one. Click here for instructions.

Head into the weekend with some good tunes! Our Friday Kanopy movie pick features Sound City. Directed by Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl, this documentary tells the story of Sound City, a LA-based recording studio where some of the greatest rock albums of all time were recorded.

Sound City was opened in 1969 by Joe Gottfried & Tom Skeeter. The facility had previously been a production factory of the English musical instrument manufacturer Vox.

Skeeter purchased a state-of-the-art recording console, which was one of four in the world. The first song recorded on the console was by Stevie Nicks & Lindsey Buckingham before they joined Fleetwood Mac. In 1976, Fleetwood Mac recorded "Never Going Back Again," a single on their Rumours album, which went on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time.

In the 1980s & 1990s, Sound City was used to produce music for artists such as Foreigner, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, & Nirvana. It developed a reputation for having a particular sound when recording drums, which influenced Rick Rubin to use it when he produced Johnny Cash's album Unchained.

In 2011, Studio City was closed to the public. Record label Fairfax Recording leased one studio, which was used by The Lumineers & Cold War Kids, among other artists. In 2017, Tom Skeeter's daughter, Sandy, formed a partnership with music executive Olivier Chastan to reopen the studio. While the control room received some upgrades, the main studio remains in the same condition as it was in 1969.

How to use Kanopy

Kanopy is a streaming service that is free to use with your WPL card. Your account has 4 watch credits per month. If you do not use your credits, they do not roll over to the next month. You will see a "play credit tracker" at the top right of your library's Kanopy platform to alert you of how many play credits you have remaining for the month.

To use a play credit, you must press play on a video and have the video play for at least 5 seconds. Once a play credit is logged, you will have a full 3 days (72 hours) to watch the video as many times as you would like without using another play credit, even if a new month starts and your credits reset. Your Viewing History will show any video that is still available to view in your 3 day window. After the 3 day window has expired, another play credit will be used if you press play on the video again.

Kanopy is currently offering credit-free viewing for select films. If you watch any of the movies on this list, you will not be using your credits. Once you log into your account, click the “credit free viewing" link on the top.

Friday Kanopy Movie Pick: Roller Dreams

You can watch movies via Kanopy at any time. To watch Roller Dreams now, click here, then sign into your account.

If you do not have a Kanopy account, you can create one. Click here for instructions.

Our Friday Kanopy movie pick features Roller Dreams, a documentary about the roller dancing craze that took over Venice Beach, California in the 1980s. The ocean side community became a refuge for young people of color seeking to escape the tumult of inner city life.

Known as Disco Alley, dancers Sally, Duval, Terrell, and their leader Mad, performed elaborate dance routines on the asphalt. This attracted men and women of all ethnicities, leading the dancers to believe that the prejudices of the past were behind them.

As roller dancing became increasingly popular, rivalries between old and new dancers escalated, drugs crept into the lifestyle, and police presence became oppressive. A once thriving multicultural activity was dismantled by gentrification and societal injustices.


How to use Kanopy 

Kanopy is a streaming service that is free to use with your WPL card.Your account has 4 watch credits per month. If you do not use your credits, they do not roll over to the next month. You will see a "play credit tracker" at the top right of your library's Kanopy platform to alert you of how many play credits you have remaining for the month.

To use a play credit, you must press play on a video and have the video play for at least 5 seconds. Once a play credit is logged, you will have a full 3 days (72 hours) to watch the video as many times as you would like without using another play credit, even if a new month starts and your credits reset. Your Viewing History will show any video that is still available to view in your 3 day window. After the 3 day window has expired, another play credit will be used if you press play on the video again.

Kanopy is currently offering credit-free viewing for select films. If you watch any of the movies on this list, you will not be using your credits. Once you log into your account, click the “credit free viewing" link on the top.

Friday Kanopy Movie Pick: Rachel Carson

You can watch movies via Kanopy at any time. To watch Rachel Carson: The Woman Who Launched the Modern Environmental Movement now, click here, then sign into your account.

If you do not have a Kanopy account, you can create one. Click here for instructions.

Our Friday Kanopy movie pick this week is Rachel Carson: The Woman Who Launched the Modern Environmental Movement. Drawn from Carson's own writings, letters and recent scholarship, this film illuminates both the public and private life of the woman who launched the modern environmental movement and revolutionized how we understand our relationship with the natural world.

About Rachel Carson

Born on May 27,1907 in Springdale, Pennsylvania, Rachel Carson grew up with a love of nature, which she shared with her mother. Carson graduated from Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University) in 1929, studied at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, and received her MA in zoology from Johns Hopkins University in 1932.

After working for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries writing radio scripts during the Depression, she embarked on a fifteen-year-career as a scientist and editor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, for which she later became Editor-in-Chief. In 1952, she published The Sea Around Us, followed by The Edge of the Sea in 1955. Both books focused on her study of the ocean, helping her rise to fame as a prominent naturalist and science writer.

In 1952, she left her government work to focus on her writing. She wrote various articles about nature and its relationship the the human race, including “Help Your Child to Wonder” in 1956. Her best known work, Silent Spring, was published in 1962 and discussed her concern about the misuse of pesticides since the end of WWII. This brought criticism from the chemical industry, however Carson remained undaunted. In 1963, she testified before Congress with the idea that human beings were just as much at risk as the rest of the ecosystem and called for policies to protect the environment from harmful chemicals. Read her statement to Congress here.

On April 11 1964, Rachel Carson died of breast cancer at the age of 56. Her research is considered the foundation for modern environmental study and she is remembered as a pioneer of eco-activism.

How to use Kanopy

Kanopy is a streaming service that is free to use with your WPL card. Your account has 4 watch credits per month. If you do not use your credits, they do not roll over to the next month. You will see a "play credit tracker" at the top right of your library's Kanopy platform to alert you of how many play credits you have remaining for the month.

To use a play credit, you must press play on a video and have the video play for at least 5 seconds. Once a play credit is logged, you will have a full 3 days (72 hours) to watch the video as many times as you would like without using another play credit, even if a new month starts and your credits reset. Your Viewing History will show any video that is still available to view in your 3 day window. After the 3 day window has expired, another play credit will be used if you press play on the video again.

Kanopy is currently offering credit-free viewing for select films. If you watch any of the movies on this list, you will not be using your credits. Once you log into your account, click the “credit free viewing" link on the top.

Earth Day 2020: Recommended Reading

To read  Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, place a hold here

To borrow On A Farther Shore, a biography of Carson by William Souder, click here

April 22nd marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day! Visit earthday.org to learn about the work being done around the world to keep our planet healthy.

Friday Kanopy Movie Pick: Loving Vincent

You can watch movies via Kanopy at any time. To watch Loving Vincent now, click here, then sign into your account.

If you do not have a Kanopy account, you can create one. Click here for instructions.

Our Friday Kanopy movie pick features the Oscar-nominated film Loving Vincent, the first ever fully painted animated feature film. The story follows a young man who travels to Van Gogh's last hometown to deliver the troubled artist's final letter and ends up investigating his final days. Features the voices of Saoirse Ronan and Chris O'Dowd.

About Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh was born in Groot-Zundert, Holland on March 30, 1853. Van Gogh decided to become an artist after a string of unsuccessful jobs, including preacher and art salesman. In 1885 he started work on "Potato Eaters" which is said to be his first masterpiece. A year later he moved to Paris to live with his brother Théo, the manager of Goupil's gallery. There he developed his own post-impressionist style after many unsuccessful attempts to imitate the techniques of popular Impressionist painters.

Van Gogh then moved to the south of France to the now famous Yellow House, where painter Paul Gaugin eventually followed him. The relationship between the two artists was difficult and birthed the infamous ear-cutting incident. It is said that Gaugin walked out after an argument, and Van Gogh followed him, razor in hand, and ended up cutting off a portion of his own lower ear lobe. He began to increasingly show signs of mental illness and was sent to an asylum in Saint-Remy. After two years at the asylum, Van Gogh moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, where Dr. Gachet, a homeopathic doctor and artist, treated him. Two months later, on July 29, 1890, Vincent van Gogh died of complications from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, which he had incurred two days prior.

Vincent van Gogh completed more than 2,100 works, consisting of 860 oil paintings and more than 1,300 watercolors, drawings and sketches. He is considered one of the most influential artists of all time. To learn more about him, tour the Van Gogh museum website here.

How to use Kanopy

Kanopy is a streaming service that is free to use with your WPL card. Your account has 4 watch credits per month. If you do not use your credits, they do not roll over to the next month. You will see a "play credit tracker" at the top right of your library's Kanopy platform to alert you of how many play credits you have remaining for the month.

To use a play credit, you must press play on a video and have the video play for at least 5 seconds. Once a play credit is logged, you will have a full 3 days (72 hours) to watch the video as many times as you would like without using another play credit, even if a new month starts and your credits reset. Your Viewing History will show any video that is still available to view in your 3 day window. After the 3 day window has expired, another play credit will be used if you press play on the video again.

Kanopy is currently offering credit-free viewing for select films. If you watch any of the movies on this list, you will not be using your credits. Once you log into your account, click the “credit free viewing" link on the top.

Friday Kanopy Movie Pick: Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story

You can watch movies via Kanopy at any time. To watch the documentary Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story now, click here, then sign into your account.

If you do not have a Kanopy account, you can create one. Click here for instructions.

Although the library is closed, you can still enjoy our Friday afternoon movie matinee from home at any time via Kanopy. In honor of Women`s History Month in March, the main branch had scheduled a showing of Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story.

This documentary chronicles the life of actress and inventor, Hedy Lamarr, who fled an oppressive marriage to create a name for herself as one of Hollywood's leading ladies in the 1940s. Behind the glamour was a talented and inquisitive inventor who created a radio system that is now considered the basis of Bluetooth technology.

About Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr was born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler on November 9, 1914 in Vienna, Austria. In 1933, at the age of 18, she starred in the Czechoslovakian film Ecstasy, about a neglected young wife of an older man. The film gained her international fame despite it being banned in the United States and Germany due to its sexual content. Viennese arms dealer and munitions manufacturer, Friedrich Mandl, became enamored with Lamarr and they married in August of 1933. Lamarr`s parents, both of Jewish descent, objected to the marriage because Mandl had ties to Italian fascist leaders Benito Mussolini. He would later be connected to Adolf Hitler.

In her autobiography Ecstasy and Me, Lamarr described her husband as controlling and eager to end her acting career. Lamarr frequently accompanied him to business meetings where she learned about military technology. Lamarr later fled to Paris to escape the marriage and resume her acting career. She was then discovered in 1937 in London by MGM president, Louis B. Mayer. After signing a contract with MGM and moving to the U.S., Lamarr landed a role in the film Algiers. She went on to star in several films with MGM, until her contract ended in 1945. Her greatest success was as Delilah in Cecil B. Demille`s Samson and Delilah, which won Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design, and was the highest grossing film of 1950.

During WWII, when she tried to join the National Inventors Council, Lamarr was told to use her celebrity status to help sell war bonds. She sold $25 million in ten days. When Lamarr learned that enemy ships could jam torpedo guidance signals, she created a design for a device that would create a frequency-hopping signal that could not be jammed. Composer and pianist, George Antheil, made the device by synchronizing a miniaturized player-piano mechanism with radio signals. Lamarr and Antheil offered the design to the U.S. Navy who rejected it because it was too cumbersome.

It wasn`t used until the mid 1950s when the U.S. Navy shared this concept with a contractor who was developing a sonobuoy. Antheil and Lamarr never received compensation for their work, even though it was copyrighted through 1959. Today, this technology is considered the basis for Bluetooth, WiFi, and GPS. In 1997, Lamarr was honored with the Pioneer Award by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. She died on January 19, 2000 at the age of 85 in Casselberry, Florida.

How to use Kanopy

Kanopy is a streaming service that is free to use with your WPL card. Your account has 4 watch credits per month. If you do not use your credits, they do not roll over to the next month. You will see a "play credit tracker" at the top right of your library's Kanopy platform to alert you of how many play credits you have remaining for the month.

To use a play credit, you must press play on a video and have the video play for at least 5 seconds. Once a play credit is logged, you will have a full 3 days (72 hours) to watch the video as many times as you would like without using another play credit, even if a new month starts and your credits reset. Your Viewing History will show any video that is still available to view in your 3 day window. After the 3 day window has expired, another play credit will be used if you press play on the video again.

Kanopy is currently offering credit-free viewing for select films. If you watch any of the movies on this list, you will not be using your credits. Once you log into your account, click the “credit free viewing" link on the top.

Friday Kanopy Movie Pick: Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart

You can watch movies via Kanopy at any time. To watch Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart now, click here, then sign into your account.

If you do not have a Kanopy account, you can create one. Click here for instructions.

Although the library is closed, you can still enjoy our Friday afternoon movie matinee from home at any time via Kanopy. In honor of Women`s History Month, the main branch had scheduled a showing of Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart.

This documentary sheds light on all aspects of Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun. It discusses the daunting challenge of securing investment and a venue for the production of a story about a working class Black family, as well as the casting process, artistic debates and its public reception. The film features interviews with the play's original cast members, including Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Louis Gossett, Jr. and Glynn Turman, director Lloyd Richards, and producer Phil Rose.

About Lorraine Hansberry

Lorraine Hansberry was born on May 19, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois to Carl Augustus Hansberry, a real estate broker, and Nannie Louise, a driving school teacher and ward committee member. After attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison for two years, Hansberry decided to pursue a career in writing and move to New York, where she attended The New School. In 1951, she moved to Harlem, where she continued her work as an activist.

Her best-known work, A Raisin in The Sun, premiered on Broadway on March 11, 1959, becoming the first play on Broadway to be produced by an African American woman. At the age of 29, she became the youngest American playwright and fifth woman to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. After the success of A Raisin in The Sun, Hansberry continued to publish essays, articles and write other plays. Her play The Sign in Sidney Brustein`s Window ran for 101 performances on Broadway. On January 12, 1965, at age 34, Lorraine Hansberry died of Pancreatic Cancer. This was also the night of the last performance of The Sign in Sidney Brustein`s Window.

How to use Kanopy

Kanopy is a streaming service that is free to use with your WPL card. Your account has 4 watch credits per month. If you do not use your credits, they do not roll over to the next month. You will see a "play credit tracker" at the top right of your library's Kanopy platform to alert you of how many play credits you have remaining for the month.

To use a play credit, you must press play on a video and have the video play for at least 5 seconds. Once a play credit is logged, you will have a full 3 days (72 hours) to watch the video as many times as you would like without using another play credit, even if a new month starts and your credits reset. Your Viewing History will show any video that is still available to view in your 3 day window. After the 3 day window has expired, another play credit will be used if you press play on the video again.

Kanopy is currently offering credit-free viewing for select films. If you watch any of the movies on this list, you will not be using your credits. Once you log into your account, click the “credit free viewing" link on the top.

Mister Rogers: It`s You I Like

For thirty-three years children were asked the question "won`t you be my neighbor?" The man asking this question was Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers` Neighborhood, which ran from 1968-2001. What set Mister Rogers` Neighborhood apart from other children`s programming was that it focused on the social and emotional needs of children. He discussed topics considered taboo for children such as death, tolerance, and divorce. He wasn`t overbearing or stern, which encouraged children to share their feelings.

In order to find an approach that properly addressed these difficult subjects, Rogers worked with Margaret McFarland, a child psychologist. McFarland believed that the first few years of a child`s life were crucial in shaping the adult they would become. She also believed that adults should use memories of their own childhood to interpret the behavior of children. When Rogers didn’t feel the script was accurately addressing the topic of the day, he would leave the set to consult with her and make changes to the script accordingly.

The last episode of Mister Rogers` Neighborhood aired on August 31, 2001. Eighteen years later his words are still being used as comfort, especially during times of tragedy. When he was a child and told his mother he was upset by what he saw in the news, she told him to "look for the helpers." Rogers became one of those helpers. When we look back at his work, we are reminded that there are always helpers we can look to and that we too can be helpers. 

Want to learn more about Mister Rogers` Neighborhood? Check out the available books, CDs, & DVDs from our catalog here 

Join us for a movie matinee at the main branch

Mister Rogers: It`s You I Like 

When: Friday, Dec. 20th @ 2:30
Where: 3rd floor computer lab
Running time: 58 minutes

Watch trailer here

In this PBS retrospective hosted by Oscar nominee Michael Keaton, enjoy memorable segments from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, including visits with Koko the Gorilla & the iconic trip to the Crayola crayon factory. Hear from stars including Whoopi Goldberg, John Lithgow, & Caroll Spinney as they share their favorite memories of Fred Rogers.

Additional movie matinees at the main branch

The Russian Five 

When: Friday, Jan. 17th @ 2:30 
Where: 3rd floor computer lab
Running time: 99 minutes

Watch trailer here

Sports and politics clash in this compelling historical documentary about five Russian hockey stars who defected to America to join the Detroit Red Wings in the late 1980s, leading to the team's back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.

Through a Lens Darkly

When: Friday, Feb. 21st @ 2:30 
Where: 3rd floor computer lab
Running time: 93 minutes

Watch trailer here

Inspired by the book Reflections in Black by photo historian Deborah Willis, this documentary features the hidden and unknown photos shot by African American photographers about the lives, experiences and perspectives of African American families that is absent from the traditional historical canon.